Wild Child
by Commander Jupiter
Summary: No-one was expecting the new mayor to be so young. Greta tires out shop owners, villagers, and even the sunny Isabelle alike. Can she win the town's approval and stay?
1. Chapter 1

Gwen was enjoying a nice walk around town, holding her watering can and ready to bring any dead or trampled plants back to their former health.

_Why are so many flowers being trampled these days? I must bring it up with the mayor..._

A streak of pink hair and pale skin darted past her, nearly knocking the poor penguin senseless. This small-ish human would be none other than...

The mayor.

Which was probably why Gwen's complaints about flowers got overlooked.

"MAYOR GRETA!"

Greta stopped in her tracks and fell flat on her face. Gwen trotted over and looked down on the child.

"Hiya, Miss Gwen. Good to see ya! Have you seen any bell crickets around? I gotta win a bet with Kid Cat! Five hundred bells, y'know, and that's a lotta money."  
>"Greta, this is really not how the mayor of the town should be conducting herself."<p>

"Uh, right. Sure you haven't seen any bell crickets?" Greta said, picking herself up off the ground and straightening her pink bedhead a little. Gwen sighed.

"Those clothes are appalling - isn't that a t-shirt you get for free from the Happy Room Academy?"  
>"Blah, blah, blah. The HRA is stupid. I just don't have any clean shirts left."<br>"That shirt doesn't look especially clean either," Gwen sniffed, looking down at the dirt-covered red logo on the shirt. "Didn't Isabelle say you're supposed to be raising funds for the new police station?"

Greta rolled her eyes. "Miss Isabelle is very nice and all, and a great assistant, but she's not my mom."

"I'm sure the town's police would appreciate having a station," Gwen said condescendingly.

"It's not all my job either. The reason Lloid sets up a _town _donation fund means everyone else has to help, but no-one does! Now, d'ya know where I could find a bell cricket?"

"It's summer, h-h-hon," Gwen said with a slight chuckle. "Kid Cat tricked you. There aren't any bell crickets out and about."

Greta gasped angrily and tore down the bridge behind her, her voice fading as she yelled. "Thanks, Gwen! Kid Cat, you lying two-faced sneak, I'm comin' for ya! You better hold on to your stupid helmet, 'cause imma knock you into next year!"

0o0

Isabelle looked up from her desk in the town hall after finally completing all the paperwork regarding the town's environmental status. The results were, as usual, not that great.

She was exhausted, also as usual. Greta was a sweet child and all, but her duties as mayor were somewhat neglected unless they benefited her adventures. Isabelle didn't blame her - she would do anything to leap up from her desk and join the small girl.

"Hey, sister."

Isabelle turned her attention to the opening door. The figure standing there was none other than her twin brother, Digby, who would have been a near clone of the golden dog if he wasn't grey.

"Digby, have you seen Greta? She's got work to do."

"Nah, I'm always out at the HRA showcase. Greta loves going there, actually. Claims it gives her design ideas for her own house and all that," Digby said with a smirk, leaning in the doorway. "I'm here to check you're sleeping enough, what with that wild child as your boss."

Isabelle had been mid-yawn when he spoke. "Uh, yup. Plenty, of course."

"How much of it has been at your desk?"

"Digby!"

"What? It's the truth. I know you love Greta and all, but I think you would make a much better mayor than she does. You do all the work for her anyways."

"She's a child. Tortimer chose her to be his successor for whatever reason, so I'm going to keep her in office," Isabelle said indignantly.

"Ever occurred to you old Tortimer isn't in the best state of mind? He was eighty before he left."

"I have no doubt that Greta could be a great mayor if she applied herself," Isabelle said. "Digby, get back to work. Those homes don't judge themselves, you know."

Digby growled. "It's an _evaluation _and you know it."

"Personally, I think all of our homes are fine without 'evaluation' every day, but it's up to you. I've got work to do."

Digby left as quietly as he had come, leaving Isabelle to go back to her work.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kid Cat, you mangy feline, you owe me five hundred bells for being a big fat cheater!"

Kid Cat turned his head and was promptly assaulted by a bunch of pink bedhead.

"Woah, woah, slow down, psst! Whaddya mean?" he said, tossing Greta off of him with ease,

"I mean that Gwen told me there were no bell crickets because it's summer so gimmie five hundred bells or else!"

Kid Cat's eyes widened. "Seriously? Aw, jeez! Explains why I can't find one either... What kind of bugs are around in the summer, then?"

"Butterflies," Greta suggested.

"Okay then, Mayor Greta! Five hundred bells to whoever can get a monarch butterfly first."

"You're on!"

Greta grabbed her net from her pockets and smiled confidently, dashing off into the trees without a backwards glance. Kid Cat just snickered and took out a butterfly he had caught earlier. "And you lose!" he called after her.

0o0

After Kid Cat had been unceremoniously whacked in the head multiple times with a net (thank goodness he always wore that helmet), he walked up to the town hall to say hi to Isabelle. However, she was fast asleep at her desk again.

"Isabelle, you okay?"

She squealed, sat up, and smiled politely, though she now had a mop of bedhead to rival Greta's. "Hello, Kid Cat. What can I do for you today? If you're here to register a complaint about Greta or make a request for a public works project, the boxes are overflowing, so come back later."

"No, I'm here to say hello. Do that many people really have bad things to say about Greta?" Kid Cat said, looking at the box that was indeed stacked up with papers.

"They're mostly suggestions," Isabelle said wearily. "Behaviour suggestions."

"Not this many people have a problem with her, surely?"

"You better believe they do."

"There are only eight residents of the town."

"All the shop owners have lodged complaints as well," Isabelle sighed. "And Luna from the Dream Suite - which took three months to raise funds for, by the way, because Greta would hardly help - and the DJs at Club LOL, and Blathers, although with much less force. The girl spends so much time fishing, digging up fossils, and catching bugs that the museum is almost full."

"Jeez. What do you do?"

"Make Greta read them all. She doesn't take any suggestions."

"I don't have a problem with her," Kid Cat said, confused. "She's really fun to be around! Always betting on bug-catching races and all of that."

"Kid Cat, you're a child yourself," Isabelle said with a frustrated sigh. "Some of the more mature residents wish she would calm down, you know."  
>"<span>Francine<span> and Gwen are party poopers, and Lobo hates everyone. They're probably complaining the most, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"But me and Chrissy would never -"  
>"Kid Cat, I've got such a terrible headache I just can't keep up this conversation anymore. I'm sorry..."<br>"Isabelle, I feel really bad for saying this, but you used to be so sunny! What happened, psst?"

"Greta. As much as I love the child - Greta. She's exhausting. I want to keep her around, but frankly, I'm not sure how long I can run Olive by myself."

Kid Cat nodded sadly. "Okay, psst. I see. I'll leave ya alone, okay?"

Isabelle smiled slightly. She wished she could say she was glad for Kid Cat's visit, but all she was happy about was that she could sleep a little longer now that he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Lobo was not an old wolf, not especially. He was simply a little bit grumpy and very antisocial, and disliked Greta as a result. He had no problem with her not running the town correctly - construction simply annoyed him, so he was glad it wasn't often around - but he did have a problem with her playing ridiculous pranks on him all the time.

For instance, it was a lovely summer morning when he stepped out of his house and into a pitfall that could only have been placed by that snickering bush over there.

"Greta! Get me out of this hole!"

The snickering stopped abruptly and Greta tried to run, only to trip over another one of her traps and fall into a hole herself. Lobo rolled his eyes.

"One wouldn't suffice?"

"I didn't do this, Mr. Lobo! Must have been someone else. I'll bet it was Gwen, she hates you!"

Lobo rolled his eyes again. "And there go the flying pigs. Why did you feel the need to dig multiple pits around my house?"

Greta sighed and admitted defeat. "You didn't write back, Mr. Lobo. And I know you hate me, but it would just be polite to try and write back."

"Greta, you never do anything polite for me, so why should I do anything polite for you?"

"It was a sorry letter, that's why. I was apologizing for trampling your flowers by accident and also being really annoying when I tried to collect donations for the - the - the thingy Isabelle made me build."

"You tried to break my door down when I wouldn't open it."

"I was knocking!"

"With a blunt axe?"

"Well, I could see you were inside. The least you coulda done was said 'I'm not interested, Greta' in a polite voice. I would've gone then," Greta said miserably. Lobo sighed.

"In the future, I will be sure to actively chase you off my property," he droned. "Now, what should we do to get out of these holes?"

"Oh, I know, I know, I know!" Greta said excitedly. She took a deep breath and started hollering for help at the top of her lungs, causing Lobo to wince and cover his ears.

"Mayor Greta, please!"

"Help! Help! We're stuck in a hole! Help!"

"Mayor Greta, be quiet!" Lobo roared. There was silence from the hole to his left. "There must be a less noisy way to figure this out."

"Hey, Lobo!" a familiar voice chirped from above. Lobo sighed.

"Hello, Egbert. Would you be so kind as to help me out of this hole?"

"Me too, me too!" Greta yelled. She tried unsuccessfully to pull herself out again before sighing loudly. "Egbert, please help."

"Looks like a lotta work, doodle-duh. Not sure if I'm up for lifting you out."

"Egbert, don't make me use my mayor powers on you."

Egbert laughed loudly. "Mmhmm, doodle-duh, I doubt it. Grab my wing."

Greta did so and with a combined effort of her and Egbert's strength, she was lifted out of the hole.

"Lobo, you want me to help?" she offered, reaching her hand down into the small pit. He smiled just a little bit as she helped to haul him out.

"Thank you, Mayor Greta. Don't do trap me again," he said, about as kindly as he could get. Greta beamed.

"Okay, Mr. Lobo! I'll see ya later," she said proudly, running away from his house with extra pep in her stride. He chuckled.

"Kids these days."

"Hey, Lobo, don't you hate the girl?" Egbert said.

Lobo shook his head disappointedly. "No, Egbert, I don't hate her at all. I wish she would calm down a little, but I don't hate her."

0o0

Three days later, Greta banged through the door of the Re-Tail clutching a handful of various bugs. Reese smiled politely. "Hello, Greta."

"Hiya, Miss Reese! How's Cyrus doin'?" she said loudly. Reese made a shushing motion and gestured to the other llama sitting on his stool in the corner, fast asleep. Greta nodded and mimed zipping her lips.

"I got some bugs to sell!" she whispered. "How much, Miss Reese?"

"Let me see..."

Reese trotted over to her counter and quickly identified the cheap little beetles before turning to face Greta. "I'd say maybe 785 bells?"

"Okay!"

The young mayor's eyes widened as they always did when the small pouch of money dropped into her hands. "Thank you, Miss Reese!"

Reese smiled. "You come back, now. And Cyrus is nearly done turning your chair pink - come back for it later today."

"Thanks again, Miss Reese!" Greta called, already halfway out the door. "See ya later!"

Reese had tried for a while to teach Greta that she was married and should be referred to as Ms. or Mrs., but the girl never listened. Still, she didn't mind too much. The girl was well meaning.

Cyrus lifted his head up from his workbench and groaned. "'The little terror gone yet?"

"Cyrus, don't be like that. She's just a child."

"Well, in my opinion, 'just a child' shouldn't be running my town," he grumbled. "I think that lady Isabelle would do a much better job."

"Sweetheart, she'll grow up."

"Then let's put Isabelle in until she does!" Cyrus yelled, shocking both himself and Reese. "I'm sick'n'tired of letting a little kid control the economy! We're hardly making money anymore!"

"We're very well off, Cyrus. Everyone employs your services, and the permanent flea market has always paid off. You know that," Reese reprimanded him sternly. Cyrus sighed.

"Yes, darling, I know, but I want an adult controlling my business, not a puny kid," he muttered.

"We control our own business. The fact that Greta is doing other things with the currency won't harm us directly unless the change is dramatic."

"She's gonna plunge us into recession."

"Isabelle won't let that happen. I'm sure any day now, the mayor will realize her responsibilities and -"

"Isabelle basically is the mayor at this point!"

The door opened and a small, sky-blue wolf entered the shop. "Hi, Reese, hi, Cyrus, I want to put this old dresser up for sale. Fine condition, but it doesn't match the overall theme of my room anymore."

Reese smiled kindly. "Absolutely. Set an asking price, Skye, and then I'll put it out."

Cyrus groaned. "Isabelle for mayor," he muttered so quietly only he heard it.


	4. Chapter 4

Isabelle had controlled the funds for the coffee shop because she needed it so badly these days. Without The Roost, she'd never have kept this town running.

"Isabelle, the usual," Brewster mumbled in a monotone. Isabelle smiled gratefully and sat on a stool at the 'bar'.

"Thank you."

"Talk of you running for mayor around," the blue-grey owl said, beginning to prepare her coffee. "Thoughts?"

"Well, I mean, Greta is a lovely girl and her heart is in the right place. I don't see any reason to try and run."

"Town isn't really pro-Greta. You can handle it better, Isabelle. Much more mature."

Isabelle gave him a questioning look. "You really think I could do it?"

"It's what the residents are saying."

"I don't want to take Greta out of office. She has a lot of promise," Isabelle said, but she wasn't as insistent as she usually was. "I just need her to -"  
>A harsh voice laughed from behind her. "You need her to apply herself?"<p>

Isabelle turned to face none other than K.K. Slider. She really didn't approve of the sleazy-looking sideshow act, but he always showed up at The Roost to play when it was Dr. Shrunk's night to run Club LOL. "Slider."

"Isabelle, darling, long time no see," K.K. laughed. "And please, call me K.K."

"I don't think you should be hanging around this town. You're trouble," Isabelle snarled. "Maybe everyone else loves you to bits, but I definitely don't."

"Aww, I'm not gonna touch your precious kid. She's not what I want," K.K. teased, coming a little too close to Isabelle. The mayor's assistant growled.

"Do your show and go, you hear?"

"It's a free town."

"Hiya, Isabelle!" a cheerful voice yelled from the doorway. "Come to watch K.K. Slider too?"

"Greta, I don't want you hanging around with poor influences like Mr. Slider," Isabelle said with a glare, picking up her coffee and taking such an aggressively angry sip she nearly spilled it down her front. K.K. chuckled.

"I'm not gonna hurt our own Ms. Mayor, Isabelle. Don't be so uptight. Got any requests, Greta?"

"K.K. Café!" she said happily, skipping across the store and tossing herself into one of the chairs. "Please?"  
>"Will do," K.K. said, setting down his guitar case and removing the beat-up acoustic model before stepping onto the slightly elevated platform in the corner of the café. Greta clapped with excitement.<p>

"Miss Isabelle, please watch with me? His music is so lovely."

"I - alright. I'll stay. But I have work to do afterwards," Isabelle said reluctantly.  
>"Does a town this small need so much work? Just relax for one night, it won't hurt anyone."<p>

Isabelle considered. Perhaps Greta was right.

"Okay, I'll stay," she said with a growing smile. "I said I would, right?"

"Yay! Miss Isabelle, what's your favorite song?"

"Ah... K.K. Lullaby."

"Will do, 'Miss Isabelle'. Love to impress the pretty ladies like you," K.K. said with a sly wink in her direction. Isabelle shuddered and tried to stop regretting her decision.

0o0

Chrissy knocked on Francine's door, her bright and eager smile plastered on her face.

"Frannie! I'm here and I brought cupcakes!" she said cheerfully before reaching into her pockets and frowning. "Ahem. I made cupcakes, but I ate them on the way here."

Francine opened the door, her tired face the opposite of her sister's. "Don't call me Frannie. And you live directly next door to me, Christina, so I don't see how you could have consumed every last one of the cupcakes in the two minute walk."

"It's _Chrissy," _Chrissy said indignantly. "And I get really hungry sometimes, okay? Can I come in?"

Francine sighed. "Yes. I've made tea, if you want."  
>"Okay!" Chrissy chirped, skipping through the door and promptly knocking over the same vase she knocked over every week on her visits. Francine picked it up after her and perched on her clean white couch before pouring two cups of tea into even whiter teacups.<p>

"Wowwww, everything's so nice and clean! And coordinated!" Chrissy praised, leaping onto Francine's (also white) fluffy bed and giggling. Francine growled.

"Get off of that bed, Christina. I just made it!"

"Chrissy! It's Chrissy!" the pink-eared rabbit yelled, but she got off up the bed anyway and sat beside Francine, taking her cup of tea in two paws and sipping it. "Mmm. Good stuff."

"I always buy from Brewster's, sister. I don't know where you get that knockoff stuff you own," Francine muttered. Chrissy decided to ignore her comments.  
>"Well, anyway, you said you wanted to talk about Greta?"<p>

"Yes. I requested that we build a police station nearly eight months ago, you see, and she's done nothing," Francine said bitterly, sipping her tea a little faster. "It's frustrating."

"Oh, that's just her way! I requested a new bench, like, twenty billion years ago, and we haven't gotten it yet," Chrissy said nonchalantly.

"Aren't you fed up of none of the work in this town getting done?" Francine snapped, finishing her first cup of tea in record time and pouring herself more. "Isabelle is exhausted because Greta does nothing!"

"I like Mayor Greta!" Chrissy protested.

"Well I _don't!_"

Francine smashed her cup down so hard it broke, splashing tea all over the two rabbits. Both of them stared in mute shock at the shattered white china before Chrissy burst into tears and ran out of her sister's room, sobbing. Francine kept gazing at the mess before sinking to the soiled couch and burying her head between her legs.

"If Isabelle becomes Mayor, I'll be her damn assistant so she can get some sleep," she muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

Francine hauled her couch to the Re-Tail, gasping with relief when she finally set it down at Cyrus' counter.

"Hiya, Frannie. What can I do for you?" Cyrus said, focusing very hard on the bit of wood he was shaping at his workbench. Francine rolled her eyes.

"My name is _Francine, _and I need to restore this couch."  
>"Okay, will do. That'll be one thousand bells."<p>

Francine balked. "One thousand? Why, but a few days ago it was eight hundred!"  
>"I know, but Reese is giving all of our money to customers that bring things in, and Mayor Greta is selling just about everything she gets these days. We're losing money," Cyrus said with an exasperated sigh. In the corner, Reese's head drooped. "So that'll be one thousand bells."<p>

Francine shook her head. "No. I refuse to pay that much." Then her voice dropped. "You don't happen to share my little Greta problem, do you?"

"I'm not her biggest fan," Cyrus grumbled.

"Cy-Cy, dearest -" Reese said timidly. Cyrus cut her off.

"Let me speak to the girl, eh?"

"Because I was thinking. We could put Isabelle in power as the mayor. I would be glad to be her assistant and actually get the town places. She makes the decisions and does some paperwork, and I'll finish the rest," Francine said with a smirk, leaning on Cyrus' counter and cupping her hand around her cheek. "What do you think?"  
>"Call me your campaign manager," the blue-furred llama joked. Francine's face hardened.<p>

"I'm dead serious, Cyrus. Why don't we give it a shot? Take Greta out of power and put Isabelle and I up there. You could help me."

"You actually mean it? I mean, I hate the girl -"

"Cyrus!" Reese said angrily. Her husband ignored her.

"But removing her from her position? Doesn't seem quite right."

"You may consider my offer, then," Francine said coolly, dropping her money on the counter. "But think about it. I think we'll like this town a lot more if an adult is running it."

She sashayed out the door, Reese's mouth gaping in anger and Cyrus' face contorted in thought.

"Cy-Cy, you can't be serious about this! Mayor Greta is doing a fine job!" she insisted. Cyrus snorted.

"No. No, she's not. When Francine comes back to get her couch, I'm telling her it's on."

0o0

"And that's why you should consider letting me be your assistant when you run for mayor," Francine concluded, staring the sweating Isabelle straight in the eye. The golden dog shook her head.

"No, I don't want to run for mayor. Not really. Please stop asking me," Isabelle muttered, looking away from Francine.

"Think about it, Isabelle. Greta will still live here, she'll just have to adapt to a fully developed town instead of a bare wilderness with a couple of houses scattered about. She wouldn't be able to sell as many bugs and such because the town would be cleaner and prevent her from catching them, helping the economy. Same with fish and fossils," Francine said in what she hoped was an authoritative, convincing tone.

"I mean, well, perhaps we can educate Greta about her responsibilities a little more and -"

"Yeah, yeah, like you've been trying to do for the past year? I don't think so," Francine snapped, her tone getting sharper. "You should be running and we all know it."

Isabelle burst into tears, shocking the blue-eared rabbit. "I know, I know. I just don't want to hurt Greta! I want to run and make decisions and do all that, but frankly..."

She trailed off, tears still on her fur as she thought for a while longer. Then she spoke once more. "I'll run, okay?"

0o0

"Hiya, Cyrus!"

Cyrus whipped around from the poster he was tacking up on the message board to see none other than the young mayor Greta.

"Whatcha putting up on the board?" she chirped, craning her neck to try and see behind the handyman's body. He chuckled nervously and stepped back into her line of sight, blocking the poster.

"It's not for you, Greta."

"I'm the mayor and I wanna see!" she said with a pout, crossing her arms.

"Well, it's also not done yet. Why don't you come along later and see?" he said with a small smirk, knowing Greta would forget instantly and never check the board again.

"Mmkay, I will! Miss Isabelle says I need to remember stuff more, so I'm gonna write it on my hand," she said proudly, whipping out a pen. Cyrus nodded nervously, making a mental note to remove the poster as soon as she had fled and replace it with an ad for Re-Tail or something.

"Okay, Miss Mayor. See you around."

0o0

Reese had decided to summon a meeting in Re-Tail with Chrissy and Kid Cat as soon as she heard that Isabelle was running for mayor. She was tempted to actually invite the assistant herself, but she had locked herself in the town hall for a bit and was nowhere to be seen since the campaign had begun.

The meeting consisted of a three old stools set up in a triangle so each animal was facing each other, Reese's face frozen in a concerned frown as she started the meeting.

"So, Isabelle is running for mayor."

Chrissy sighed sadly. "I don't want to take Greta out, but perhaps it's for the best?"

"I - look, I guess -"

"I mean, it's true!"

"Chrissy, what if -"

"I just don't think it's really worth arguing, psst -"

"Isabelle is going to win, Reese, and we can't really -"

"I know!" Reese shouted all of a sudden before bursting into tears. "It would just crush Greta! I don't want to make her upset!"

"She's gotta grow up sometime," Kid Cat said solemnly. "I wish I could be a kid forever, you know? But there are bills to pay, things to do, and Greta has a whole town to run. She isn't doing anything, and as much as I hate to admit it, Isabelle would do a much better job."

Reese gave a shuddering sigh through her tears. "I know, I know, I know."


End file.
